'Soul of Water': strange massive sculpture appears in New York harbor

A towering statue of a woman's head, index finger pressed to its lips, now looks out over Manhattan along the Hudson River. The publication told about what this monument means. Reuters.

“The water, when it moves, makes a special sound, very special,” said Barcelona-based artist Jaume Plensa.

The point of his 24-meter Soul of Water is to “remain silent ... listen to the deep sound of water speaking to us,” he said in an interview. This is Plensa's biggest work to date.

The statue offers stunning views of the river and skyscrapers of Newport's fast-paced waterfront in Jersey City. It stands directly opposite Greenwich Village. It is about six kilometers upstream from Statue of Liberty, the more familiar harbor guard.

However, the statue calling for silence stands near the Hoboken train station, helicopters constantly fly over it, so you can only dream of silence.

But these are not the noises that Plensa says his work is aimed at.

“I'm talking about the noise of news reports,” he said.

Plensa, 66, was commissioned to create the piece about two years ago by LeFrak and the Simon Property Group. They were the developers of the area, including the river-facing plot of the Soul of Water.

An image of a real model was scanned. The piece was then made from polyester resin, fiberglass and marble dust at Plensa's studio in Barcelona.

It was shipped in 23 containers, each 12 meters long, to the Jersey City site for assembly.

Intrigue for the locals

Sculpture, whose official presentation took place on October 21, is visible from afar. Some locals who have watched its assembly since August were puzzled.

"Why is she asking to be silent?" Asked Cleveland Rice, 63, a city employee.

“I would say the statue is telling New York to keep this area a secret because we don't want to force more people to work here,” said Huang Yan, 31, a software engineer.

Miriam, 46, a travel agent who declined to give her last name, sees her right from her apartment window. She thumbs down as she appraises the statue.

“I don’t think it is suitable for the environment,” she said.

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Plensa has been exhibiting her work around the world for over 40 years. He said that it may take time for his art to be accepted in different environments.

“In the public space, a work is a work, and it competes with many other objects,” he explained.

His works include Crown Fountain in Chicago's Millennium Park. In it, moving LED images of faces are displayed on two 15-meter glass towers with cascading water flowing from their mouths. When it opened in 2004, the reaction was mixed. Although the fountain has become popular since then.

This is not a message to Manhattan

Plensa said the sculpture doesn't send a message Manhattan. In addition, she does not “ask to be silent,” but quietly calls for silence.

The Soul of Water represents the elongated head of a woman with closed eyes.

“In many of my works, I ask the viewer: close your eyes and look inside yourself, because an amazing amount of beauty is hidden inside you,” the author commented.

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His works mainly depict women... He sees life and the world as a woman. At the same time, "the boys are just an accident, a very pleasant accident, but an accident."

According to him, Soul of Water is best viewed from the river.

“This is a work that pays homage to water, and from there you can enjoy its view more,” the artist summed up.